The WXW 3030 Poetry Challenge 2014
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: 30 days, 30 prompts, 30 poems, all for April 2014.
1. Day 1

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014  
Day 1 of 30: things we carry**

**Heavy Burdens **

There are too many burdens  
to bear on a back that doesn't crack  
but he manages it; he keeps himself up straight  
and refuses to fall.

He might have fell  
long ago, if there hadn't been  
those springboards of support  
to snap him back up.

He'd snapped a few; he'd taped them back up  
with cello tape and made do  
until they were fully mend  
and he'd collapse  
with his full weight once more.

In a way, it wasn't he  
who carried it all, but all of them  
together


	2. Day 2

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014  
Day 2 of 30: knock on the door**

**Death Comes Calling**

his death that comes calling  
not a moment late but the time it had set itself;

he was just a fool to think he could prologue a life  
he'd let bleed into soil and waste.

no-one intercedes on his behalf;  
no-one cares – his followers have abandoned him  
or are dead.  
there is no veil that stands between him  
and the death he feared

and now that death calls  
for him.


	3. Day 3

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014  
Day 3 of 30: faces in the street**

**Strangers**

He doesn't know these strangers that call to him on the streets,  
smiling, crying, shaking his head  
but he is a God to them: the God of victory smiling  
with a bemused expression and child-like lips.

Even if he is a child, few of those many, nameless, faces see  
beyond the victory God's bright veil

And they are too far, too many,  
for him to be able to remember too.


	4. Day 4

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014  
Day 4 of 30: mother**

**Mother**

She is warm.  
She is comforting.  
She is brushing his tears away  
with strong firm hands.

She is not his mother.

She is kind.  
She is giving him a kiss of the cheek when he comes,  
a present when he's gone for the holidays,  
a smile when he arrives.

She is not his mother.

She is beautiful.  
She goes red when they worry her,  
like the hair that is her trademark, her pride  
and when she's happy, she looks as sweet  
as the lady who runs the Gingerbread House.

She is not his mother

(but he doesn't know his mother  
so she is the best he has.)


	5. Day 5

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014  
Day 5 of 30: desolation**

**Unable to Win**

He wants to save the world  
but it's already so far gone, can he  
pull it up from the receding tides,  
put the driftwood back together  
into a boat that can carry them  
away from the last storms?

Probably not; there's nowhere to hide  
from those storms; he has to fight  
them instead, but how can you fight a storm?  
How can you do anything when it's destroyed  
so much – even the _hope_ –

He has to, somehow. It's too barren, too horrible  
a world now, and he promised  
he'd make it right.

Maybe he shouldn't  
have made that promise  
he mightn't be able to deliver.


	6. Day 6

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014  
Day 6 of 30: child's garden**

**Snake in the Grass**

Every child found a little corner of Paradise  
on earth; his was in the grass  
hidden from the world.

He had his friends in that grass,  
where other humans didn't go  
because he was the one who watered it,  
neatened it, cleaned it,  
and mowed it down

And those others would probably make him  
kill his friends if they'd known, but they didn't  
so they could stay his friends,  
like the ants that smiled at him as he protected them  
or the snake that talked to him  
and listened back  
while everyone else just yelled…

Every child found a little corner of Paradise  
and his was that little patch of grass  
amidst the garden.


	7. Day 7

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014  
Day 7 of 30: extremely loud**

**An Explosion of Anger**

He wants to yell until the world explodes  
but he can't; he doesn't have that rock inside  
his chest, but rather a soft tender heart  
_and look, it's already bleeding  
'cause he's screamed too much  
already_

He's angry, but he's hurt more  
and no matter how loud he screams  
the anger won't turn into a fiery force  
to bring the walls down,  
it'll only hurt  
until his heart bleeds out of his chest  
unable to hang on.

But if his anger did destroy his world,  
once it dimmed, he was sure he'd  
be even more hurt than now.


	8. Day 8

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014  
Day 8 of 30: walkers at dawn**

**After Hours**

They mourned with the dawn.

It had become a tradition of sorts  
for them,  
to walk like silent shadows  
in the still pale lights of the peaking sun  
and mourn

For all the blood that had spilt  
in the dark night  
and all those faces  
that wouldn't see the sun  
as it rose.


	9. Day 9

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014  
Day 9 of 30: expect nothing**

**Why He Still Fought**

He didn't fight for recognition  
or fame; he had them both already.  
He fought for something more valuable  
instead: a peaceful world  
that wouldn't be torn apart  
by war again.

He couldn't fight for nothing  
but he couldn't be a poster-boy either,  
a pawn; he did have things to fight for  
even if they weren't the sort of things  
that others seemed to expect.

What would he do with money, or a medal  
if the world was an ugly thing by the end?  
He wanted a happy world  
and that was why he fought.


	10. Day 10

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014  
Day 10 of 30: anywhere out of the world**

**Escapade**

There was no such thing called an escape  
for one whose destiny weighed  
the mountain that his had become.

Even after death it followed him,  
offered him the way to life again  
and turning away deeper down the river's path  
would not steal that fate away.

Facing it  
was the only thing he could do  
because the flowing river  
could never carry him far enough.

There was no escape for him  
from that destiny.


	11. Day 11

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014  
Day 11 of 30: constantly risking absurdity**

**Constantly a Fool**

He was such a fool  
but he was happy because he kept his friends  
after all those tears he shed

And if he had his way he'd leave them all  
for safety – but they were the ones  
who won, who kept him  
and the danger he always brought.


	12. Day 12

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014  
Day 12 of 30: where the sidewalk ends**

**Facing Up**

He was going to have to face it  
in the end: that enemy he had to kill  
facing the greatest shield  
without a strong sword in hand

But they had to chip away first,  
make it weak  
so he wouldn't get run over the moment he stepped  
on to the main road and in front of him.


	13. Day 13

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014  
Day 13 of 30: forgetfulness**

**In His Face**

He knew so much about his enemy now  
he forgot, sometimes, the things that lay in front of his face,

Waving at him, the things that can grant him the answers  
he chases through fog and clouds and painful dreams  
looking somewhere else.

When he caught it running past he stared  
and then hit his head for missing  
what had been in front of him all this time.


	14. Day 14

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014  
Day 14 of 30: arithmetic**

**Balancing Equations**

He knew the other had thought he had won already;  
that he was no match – but that was wrong  
and arrogance was the factor he'd left out  
of the equation.

Arrogance was the key he'd use, that little x-factor  
sneaking in to disrupt the balance  
to their favour.

After all, any equation could be tipped  
with the right factors.


	15. Day 15

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014  
Day 15 of 30: instant sorrow**

**Unprepared**

Death was a thing he could never prepare himself for  
no matter how many times he saw;  
it was still so brutal a hit that crushed his chest,  
his breath, until the tears could be loosened in grief and rage  
as it sunk, like a pit

But those first few moments of sorrow where dry  
and enough to make him stop in his steps.


	16. Day 16

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014  
Day 16 of 30: small things**

**Sentiments**

It was the small things he clung to  
that his counterpart had thrown away  
and dwindled for:

Sentiments, that word that seemed so foolish  
and yet so encompassing – that gave him value for his past  
and his friends.


	17. Day 17

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014  
Day 17 of 30: 5 am**

**Footsteps Under the Cupboard**

He was woken up too early sometimes  
by quiet footsteps on the stairs  
overhead;

A secret he could hear but always kept  
because he too snuck about in the dark  
when the world slept

And when little nibbles disappeared in those trips  
they turned a blind eye to it  
as well.


	18. Day 18

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014  
Day 18 of 30: warning**

**Before Breath**

He always felt a little tingle before he fell  
under undiluted hatred, and rage  
and he was always gripping something afterwards  
when he came back: bleeding hands  
that hurt far less than the poor souls  
that had angered that other man

But the screams were silent in his throat:  
silent, because he'd had a before breath.


	19. Day 19

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014  
Day 19 of 30: the old man**

**To Be Young Again**

He was growing weary  
too quick, too young  
but all those who fought a war  
and lived afterwards were like that,  
especially when the world had still  
not begun to smile.

Maybe when it did  
they could be young again


	20. Day 20

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014  
Day 20 of 30: supermarket in California**

**Cast Into the World**

He hadn't been very far before  
from home, before he was cast out  
into the world.

It could have swept him away  
without him even knowing  
where he'd gone

But his friends were there,  
holding his hands and leading  
him along.


	21. Day 21

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014  
Day 21 of 30: alone with everybody**

**Too Far Away**

No-one understood, no-one could even pretend to understand  
because he was so far away: a boy with a written destiny,  
a written fate he couldn't even hope to overcome,

Not like the rest of them drifting,  
drifting about, trying to find their way:  
that little river that would eventually lead to the sea  
their future spells

But for him, there was only one path, wide and without forks  
and leading to somewhere different  
to the rest of those finer lines.


	22. Day 22

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014  
Day 22 of 30: a tear and a smile**

**Lost and Found**

They'd lost something,  
but they'd gained something as well:  
the lives of many of the friends,  
and their freedom,  
that victory they'd all sought

No matter the cost it would take  
away from them, they had to smile  
with their tears  
for what they'd gained in return  
from that sacrifice.


	23. Day 23

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014  
Day 23 of 30: wrong way home**

**School is Home, Home is School**

He was one of those few people who thought  
home was school, and school was home,  
who loathed the summer holidays that approached  
to steal away from him  
that precious time, those precious people that he loved

In favour of that lone sterile place  
the rest of the world still called  
his home.


	24. Like a Fever

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014  
Day 24 of 30: hot and cold**

**Like a Fever**

It was like a fever  
burning through his skin:  
a meed for haste  
that gave his feet their wings:

All those names that fell  
needlessly – if they could be faster,  
if they could find the cards they need

And they could end it – they could  
if only the last cards would fall  
into their hands.


	25. Day 25

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014  
Day 25 of 30: remember**

**Time Went On**

Time went on  
but not one of them forgot the horrors  
of the wars: those few years filled with blood  
and fear, and the identity they'd all lost.

Even now, in peaceful times  
they recalled – those years they'd grown up  
before it all


	26. Day 26

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014**  
**Day 26 of 30: strange wild song**

**Out of Perfection**

He didn't have to be the poster boy  
they imagined him to be:  
he could just be himself,  
dance to that song only he  
could hear

Because he had his friends:  
those who saw him for him  
and still accepted him.  
He didn't need to reduce himself  
to being two-dimensional.


	27. Day 27

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014**  
**Day 27 of 30: unbearable lightness**

**Don't Admit It**

He just hadn't wanted to admit  
the truth: that he'd grown up  
just to kill, just to die:  
that his life had no other meaning  
to share

And maybe that's why  
he could go on living  
once it was done, all over,  
because he hadn't looked at that light  
that was so blinding  
to him  
it would have stolen his sight  
thereafter.


	28. Day 28

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014**  
**Day 28 of 30: if**

**Doubts**

Sometimes he wondered if he was doing the right thing  
by living life: by having friends, by studying, laughing,  
being normal,  
if he shouldn't just spend his whole life fighting  
like the figurehead he was made out to be

But even if that was his role in life  
he couldn't give up the happiness  
that came from his friends.


	29. Day 29

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014**  
**Day 29 of 30: one hundred years**

**Remembered**

One hundred years after the fact they'd still remember him  
because he was just that sort of person: the hero  
who'd saved them all from the darkness

But out of those, there were many who'd remember him  
for him as well: the smaller things: the knobby knees  
and scrawny face and glasses, the almost illegible scrawls,  
that kindness that lurked beneath the eyes who'd seen  
so much war…

They'd remember the hero,  
but they'd remember him as well  
without the hero.


	30. Day 30

**The WXW 30/30 Poetry Challenge 2014**  
**Day 30 of 30: all she wrote**

**Over Now**

It was over: too fast now  
that the body had fallen:  
no dramatic flare of flame  
to reduce it all to ash,  
no slow fall.

Just a body on the floor, still,  
looking dead – the source  
of all their grief  
destroyed.

The end.  
Of a war that had gone too long  
and a man who'd tried to run away  
from death.


End file.
